Chapter 150 - 150: The Golden Lion's Prison Break
The underwater great prison enforced a strict strategy on top-tier criminal powerhouses—so long as they didn't starve to death, it was acceptable.
First, long-term starvation would drastically reduce their strength, making it impossible for them to cause chaos.
Second, in a state of prolonged hunger, every function of the body would gradually deteriorate.
Third, the constant agony itself served as punishment.
As for a criminal like the Golden Lion, the restrictions were even stricter. With the suppression of Seastone shackles, not a trace of strength was allowed to recover.
Otherwise, even a casual use of body techniques could be something an ordinary guard couldn't handle.
After all, body techniques like Shigan—once mastered—could be performed instinctively.
But no one ever expected it.
Not in the past few hundred years.
And now, it was about to happen.
The Golden Lion was about to succeed—shocking the world.
A savage glint flashed in the Golden Lion's eyes as he slowly crawled toward the cell door.
Compared to when he had just been imprisoned, the current Golden Lion was a completely different person—emaciated to the bone.
Two years of starvation had rendered him unable to even stand.
It took him several minutes to crawl just three meters. Gazing at the half-bowl of rice in front of him, the Golden Lion grinned viciously and devoured every grain.
Then, he crawled back to the corner and gently lifted a scrap of cloth.
Beneath the cloth was a stash of rice—just a few grains a day—accumulated over months.
More than six months of saving.
Now, it was enough.
With his one remaining hand, he scooped up the moldy, dirt-stained rice.
He chewed expressionlessly, mouthful by mouthful.
When finished, he grinned once more.
"Delicious..."
The Golden Lion slowly lay down, waiting for the dead of night.
...
Late at night, Level 6 of the underwater great prison.
Inside the cell, the Golden Lion opened his eyes, sensing a sliver of restored strength.
He sat up and slowly raised a finger. A faint sword aura swirled at its tip.
"It's been a long time..."
He let out a sinister chuckle and looked at his feet.
He picked up a small stone fragment and put it in his mouth.
Swish—
Crunch!
A flash of sword light.
The stone in his mouth shattered instantly.
His fingers dug into the ground, drawing blood as his body trembled violently and cold sweat streamed down his face.
Yet the grin on his face only widened, growing increasingly feral.
Because power was surging back into him...
"Hahahahaha!"
"Feels good! Feels damn good!!"
"Ah—!!"
A guttural roar burst out as the Golden Lion began to float.
Blood dripped steadily from his legs, while his lone arm pressed against the floor.
Clatter, clatter...
The sound of rubble echoed.
Stones from the floor broke and reassembled, forming a stone sword.
He raised it, gave a casual flourish.
BOOM!
...
Underwater Great Prison.
Bzzz—Bzzz—Bzzz—
Shrill alarms blared.
In the warden's office—
"What happened, Magellan?"
"Why are the alarms going off?"
Young Magellan saluted, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"Reporting!"
"The Golden Lion has escaped!"
"He should still be somewhere inside the prison!"
"What did you say?"
"What about the Seastone shackles? Were they removed?"
Magellan, sweating profusely, replied,
"No, the Seastone shackles were never removed."
"He..."
"He cut off his own legs!"
All security personnel in the underwater great prison mobilized.
"Move, move, move!"
"We must find him no matter what!"
"If that high-level criminal escapes, it'll be a disaster!"
"The legend of the underwater great prison will be shattered!"
"We absolutely cannot let it fall on our watch!"
"Go, go, go!!!"
...
Level 6 of the underwater great prison.
The Golden Lion killed several guards, stuffing food into his mouth non-stop.
His body began to slowly regain mass. Hearing the increasingly blaring alarms, he finished his last bite and let out a long exhale.
"My strength's returned."
He casually grabbed a cigar from the desk and lit it, taking a puff.
"Cough, cough..."
"What cheap crap."
He frowned, but kept the cigar in his mouth.
Floating out of the cell, fragments of stone swirled around him.
One by one, he smashed every surveillance Den Den Mushi in sight.
Suddenly, his Observation Haki picked up a slightly stronger presence approaching.
The Golden Lion stopped and floated up to the ceiling beam of the corridor.
He sat atop it, puffing his cigar.
Drip... drip...
Blood dripped steadily from the beam.
Soon, the young Hannyabal came running.
Something felt off—he turned to see the puddle of blood on the floor. Cold sweat rolled down his cheeks.
Huff—
With a quiet exhale, smoke drifted down from above.
The Golden Lion's sinister voice echoed:
"Do you know where my sword went?"
"It's a fine blade."
Hannyabal shouted nervously,
"Promopromopromotion... I wanna get promoted!"
"Ah! No, wait!"
"It's Shiki!!!"
The Golden Lion looked down, took another puff of his cigar.
"So it's an idiot."
"Whatever."
"I'm leaving anyway."
"I don't need my legs anymore."
"You can have them."
"Thanks for the hospitality these past two years."
His ferocious gaze locked on Hannyabal.
BOOM—
...
"Venom Dragon!"
Six massive lion heads formed, roaring as they clashed with Magellan's three giant Venom Dragons.
The Golden Lion sneered.
"I don't have time to play with you."
"Hurry up and tell me—where the hell is my sword?"
A bead of sweat slid down Magellan's forehead.
"I will never let you advance a single step."
A flash of impatience crossed the Golden Lion's eyes.
With his right arm holding the stone sword, he slashed forward.
Six massive lion heads formed from stone surged toward Magellan, coated in Haki.
A hurricane of sword aura howled forward.
Several hundred-meter-long sword waves pierced through layer after layer of stone floor and ceiling.
They shot straight through the prison roof—sunlight spilled through the breach.
The Golden Lion gave a low grunt.
Staring at Magellan locked in battle with the lion heads and Venom Dragons—
"Die."
The ground trembled and surged violently.
Like a tidal wave of solid rock, crashing down toward Magellan.
Swish!
The Golden Lion soared into the sky.
...
Calm Belt. A cliff on a remote island.
The Golden Lion arrived with three swords.
He immediately stabbed two random famous swords into the stumps of his severed legs.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Afterward, he collapsed, panting heavily and drenched in cold sweat.
He tore strips of his clothes and used them as makeshift bindings, tightly fastening the swords to the stumps.
Struggling to rise, he propped himself up on the blades—nerves screaming from the pain.
But his grin only grew more savage.
"Gyahahahaha!"
"Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
"Perfect!"
"I've got legs now!!!"
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